The Rules
by Miss.Mil
Summary: The Colonel stares at her with a blank expression, and she'd give anything to know what he is thinking. But it's almost like the look he gets just before he makes some self-sacrificing decision that he knows she will protest to.
_And so another result of my intense procrastination. I have two law essays due and Sam/Jack are just SO much more fun to write._

 _TAG to S3 E1: Into the Fire. because who could ignore THAT hug?_

* * *

 **The Rules**

Sam sighs as she makes her way into her darkened lab. It had been a hell of a mission, and she was dirty and tired. She knows she should have a shower, and go home. But somehow, she can't bring herself to make the trek to the locker rooms just yet. She figures the boys would be in there anyway. And she is in no mood to face them just yet.

Least of all one Colonel.

Janet had cleared her, and Sam had managed to convince her that a hand device to the forehead for a few minutes didn't warrant an overnight stay in the infirmary. The downside was that she has to have someone drive her home.

And she is in no mood for that someone to be Colonel Jack O'Neill.

A few seconds of blindly groping around the wall and she finds the light switch to her lab.

The shift in the light is blinding, and it takes her a few seconds to adjust.

His voice makes her jump out of her skin.

'There you are.'

Sam whirls around, facing the offending figure who is parked primly on her favourite chair.

'Sir.'

It's more of a statement than a question, like his waiting for her in a pitch black lab is completely normal. The serious side of it is that is really was becoming normal.

She shoves the thought to the back of her mind.

Her breakdowns after the Jolinar nightmares are not something she needs to revisit right now.

'You look like hell Captain,' Jack states calmly, as if the words are to be anything but an insult.

Sam stands stiffly. 'Thank you Sir.'

She wants to ask what the hell he is doing in her lab again. After the "incident" in September, the Colonel was banned from coming anywhere near her lab unattended. His predisposition for touching things he should got him into far more trouble than even O'Neill had bargained on that time.

More like a week's stay in the infirmary as odd patches of purple skin kept appearing in regions they shouldn't have.

Sam nearly smiles at the memory.

Somewhere between getting shot through the shoulder with an arrow and meeting the Tok'ra, at least they had something to laugh about.

They stare at each other for a moment. The silence ricocheting off the concrete walls.

He folds his hands neatly in front of him, smoothing the lines on his green BDU shirt.

'I thought we should talk.'

Sam nearly flinches. Her CO wanting to talk is not normal.

She eyes him suspiciously.

'Am I in trouble Sir?'

The deliberate avoidance of Colonel Makepeace's order comes to mind as Sam flashes back to the halls of a Goa'uld fortress that looked too much like the SGC for comfort.

They both know that there was nowhere in Makepeace's orders that sounded anything like 'go and rescue Jack O'Neill.'

They both fudged their way through the debriefing, insisting that Carter came across the Colonel on her way to find the generator. The finding of the Tok'ra operative instead only helped their lie.

But they both knew it wasn't true.

And this was rapidly turning into something they couldn't deny.

Or avoid.

'You came back for me.'

His statement is clear; the words are sharp. He doesn't answer her earlier question.

'Never leave a man behind, right Colonel?'

Her feigned attempt at Soldier Sam is pitiful even to her own ears.

He doesn't answer. And they are back to the silent staring.

Sam chews the inside of her lip, shifting her weight and determined to not look away.

The Colonel stares at her with a blank expression, and she'd give anything to know what he is thinking. But it's almost like the look he gets just before he makes some self-sacrificing decision that he knows she will protest to.

It suddenly dawns on her that she knows him a little too well.

'Surely even you knew I was long-gone this time.'

His voice is softer than before, almost a whisper.

Sam stands up straighter. 'No, Sir. I didn't believe that.'

She doesn't add that she couldn't believe that, even if it had been the truth.

'The General accepts our explanation as to how I ended up…' he pauses for a spilt second. '… un-goa'uld-ed.'

She nods. 'Glad to hear that.'

'I didn't mention the other bit.'

'Other bit, Sir?'

Now she really is confused.

'You know, the bit between me waking up and us going to the generator?'

He sounds almost childish, and it irks her a little bit. This is her commanding officer, and she has found him hiding in the dark, in her lab, because he wants to talk about their previous mission.

Then it dawns on her.

He is referring to their not-so-subtle embrace.

And suddenly she can feel a flush creeping up her neck.

The memory is still so real. The feel of his arms on her, and his warm breath on her hair as he held on tight. The way his hands clenched into her jacket, and the feeling that he'd never let go.

Her hip is already bruising from her weapon digging in as he held on.

She clears her throat.

'I didn't think it needed to be mentioned.'

She deliberately leaves the Sir.

He shuffles to his feet.

'Well, no I guess not.'

Sam blinks. 'It was just a reaction to the situation, Sir.'

She can see the relief wash over his face, and his silent thanks that she is such a switched-on 2IC. Always giving him an out.

It strikes her that he does the same.

And that is so them. Always covering for each other, so they never really have to admit what is growing between them.

'You'd do the same for me.'

He pauses on his way to the door, and she realises that the are standing too close.

Sam takes a step back.

The corners of his mouth tighten, like he is trying to silence himself.

'Of course.'

They stare at each other again.

They could win any staring contest; Sam is sure of it.

'But this other thing,' he gestures with his hand between them. 'It shouldn't happen again.'

His choice of word is interesting, and it takes her a moment to call him out on it.

'Shouldn't, or can't?'

He swallows thickly, and shoves his hands in his pockets.

It's the most honest conversation they've had with each other, and it's getting into dangerous territory fast.

Sam takes another step back.

'Technically? Both.'

She wants to laugh at the absurdity of his answer. To force him to admit what has been driving her crazy ever since she saw the desperate look in his eyes as a symbiote threatened to take her life away.

But before she can ask why, he abruptly heads to the door, swinging back to say one last thing.

'Because that's the rules.'

He disappears down the corridor, and she is left standing in oversized and dirty field gear.

She knows the conversation is closed.

She knows that he will be the one to drive her home.

She knows that she will accept, regardless of how much distance she feels she needs to put between them at the moment, because they will end up with pizza boxes at Daniel's house anyway.

And somehow she knows that it may not have been their first embrace in the line of duty, but it would certainly not be their last.

FIN.


End file.
